Chapter LXX: Part 2 (31)

“Another method of removing a bottle-stopper is to insert its head into a chink, and then endeavouring to turn the bottle with both hands. If the neck of the stopper break, the hand is out of the way of danger. An upright board, such an one as supports the ends of a set of shelves, should be selected in a convenient situation in the laboratory, and a vertical slit cut through it about a foot in length, an inch in width above, but gradually decreasing in size, so as to be about one third of an inch at the bottom. The top of the hole may be about the height of the breast. This aperture will in one part or another receive and retain the head of almost any stopper, and prevent its turning with the bottle. Then by wrapping a cloth about the bottle and grasping it with both hands, the attempt to turn it round so as to move the stopper may be made with any degree of force which it may be thought safe to exert. The force employed should never be carried so far as to cause fracture anywhere, but the attempts, if unavailing with the application of a moderate degree, should be desisted. Another and very successful method of removing a stopper is to turn the bottle round when held horizontally over the small flame of a spirit lamp or candle applied to the neck. The heat should be applied only to the part round the plug of the stopper, and in a few moments, when that has become warm, the stopper should be tapped with the piece of wood as before stated. As soon as the stopper moves by tapping it is to be taken out, and must not be replaced till the glass is cold.

“The application of heat in this manner must be short and the operation altogether, to be successful, must be a quick one. If the contents of the bottle are fluid, it should be so inclined that they must not become heated; if they are volatile this method should be tried very carefully, lest the vapour formed within should burst the bottle.

“It is often advantageous to put a little olive oil round the edge of the stopper at its insertion, allowing it to soak in for a day or two. If this be done before the heat be applied, it frequently penetrates by increased facility; by oil, heat, and tapping very obstinate stoppers may be removed.

“When a stopper has been fixed by crystallisation from solution, water will sometimes set it free, and it is more efficacious in such cases than oil, because it dissolves the cement. When the cementing matter is a metallic oxide or sub-salt, a little muriatic acid may be useful if there be no objection to its application arising from the nature of the substance within.”[198]

[Footnote 198: Faraday.]

A writes in ‘New Remedies’ suggests that, in attempting to extricate the fixed stopper by means of knocking with a piece of wood, the motion given to it when putting it in should be reversed, that is, the stopper should be knocked from _right_ to _left_.

=STORM-GLASS.= A philosophical toy, consisting of a thin glass tube about 12 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter, about three fourths filled with the following liquid, and covered with a brass car having an almost capillary hole through it, or else tied over with bladder.

The solution. Take of camphor, 2 dr.; nitre 1-1/2 dr.; sal ammoniac, 1 dr.; proof spirit 2-1/4 fl. oz.; dissolve, and place it in the tube above referred to. Used to foretell changes of the weather.

=STOVES.= In England the open grate or fireplace, because of its cheerful appearance and the sense of comfort it suggests when filled with glowing coal, is the favorite and general receptacle for the fuel with which we warm our apartments. The cozy appearance, however, of our old-fashioned English grate, constitutes its chief, if not its only merit; for it not only fails in uniformly warming and effectively ventilating our apartments, but it more or less sets into circulation a number of draughts of cold air, and besides occasionally filling our rooms with smoke and spoiling our furniture by the deposition of soot and dust, wastes our fuel, by allowing it to escape unconsumed in the shape of smoke, and thus pollutes the atmosphere of our cities and towns.

In France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and other European countries, as well as in America and Canada, the stove or closed fireplace is used. The domestic stove of these countries is made either of sheet or cast-iron, or fire-clay. The iron stoves, being mostly composed of thin plates, soon absorb and radiate the heat; and although this property enables them to rapidly warm an apartment, it has the disadvantage, if the stove becomes red-hot, of allowing the escape through the heated metal into the surrounding air of the carbonic acid generated in the stove; and furthermore, in its immediate vicinity converts a portion of it into carbonic oxide. Such stoves must necessarily be unsafe unless used in well-ventilated apartments.[199] Another effect of the over heating of the stove is to desiccate or parch the air, and to render it irritating when breathed. The fire-clay stoves are free from these drawbacks, and continue to radiate from their surfaces a large amount of heat, even when the fuel with which they have been supplied is consumed. But although we exclude the close stove from our sitting rooms and dormitories, it is in frequent requisition in halls, picture-galleries, churches, theatres, lecture-rooms, and the like.

[Footnote 199: Dr Bond has suggested coating them with soluble glass, as a remedy for this.]

“Stove literature,” if such a term may be applied to the various treatises descriptive of the multitude of patterns in use, which have emanated alike from inventors and their critics, is so voluminous that it is impossible for us to attempt to give even a list of the numberless stoves in use, to say nothing of a commentary on their relative value. Of close stoves suitable for heating spaces other than dwelling or sleeping-rooms, mention may be made of Arnott’s stove, and one known as “The Belfast.” These stoves are serviceable when it is desirable to keep up a fire for some time, as in heating a lobby. They have the advantage of requiring little, if any, attention after the fuel has been placed in them and ignited.

Of late years, gas-stoves, both for heating and cooking purposes, have come largely into use. One of those for the former purpose is called the “Pyropneumatic.” The inner part of this apparatus is formed of lumps of fire-clay traversed by vertical air-passages which communicate with the external air by a special channel. The air becomes heated as it passes through the lumps of fire-clay, and rising to the top of the stove, escapes therefrom by an outlet into the room. Another so-called “ventilating” warming gas-stove is Mr George’s “Culirogen.” It consists of a stove made of thin-rolled iron, inside of which is a coil of wrought-iron tubing open at the top of the stove. The lower end of this tubing is in connection with an iron pipe which is carried through the wall of the apartment, and fed with air from without. Gas is the fuel generally used to heat the inside of the stove. The continuous current of air as it rushes into the iron pipe from without, thus becomes warmed as it ascends into the coil, which it leaves to become diffused into the surrounding apartment, whilst the products of combustion of the gas used as fuel are, by means of a pipe attached to the stove, carried into the chimney, as with coal fire.

A gas-cooking apparatus possesses many advantages over an ordinary coal fire. In the first place, it is more cleanly; in the second, it affords a much more uniform and equable temperature; in the third, it forms no smoke, and in the fourth it is more economical as well as expeditious.

Mr Eassie gives the following practical suggestions to intending purchasers of gas-stoves:——

“It is not necessary here to enter into a description of any of the numberless common patterns extant, but it might be well to record the opinion of the best engineers, that the simplest gas-stove is the best. They should not be surrounded by a non-conducting material, as that affords no advantage, but the contrary. An Argand or fish-tail burner should also be used instead of rings pierced for so many separate jets, and where practicable, the Bunsen-burner should be employed, as the mixture of common air with the gas not only prevents the formation of soot, but also intensifies the heat.”

=STRABIS′MUS.= _Syn._ SQUINTING. This need not be described. When one eye only is affected, an excellent plan is to blindfold the sound eye during several hours each day, until the affection be removed. When both eyes are affected, a projecting piece of pasteboard, in the line of the nose, may be worn as much as possible with the same object. In bad cases of squinting inwards, as it is called, the division of the internal rectus muscle of the eyeball by a skilful surgeon, is said to often relieve the deformity.

=STRANGULATION.= See HANGING.

=STRAP′PING.= Spread adhesive plaster. Used to dress wounds, &c.

=STRASS.= See ENAMEL.

=STRAW′BERRY.= _Syn._ FRAGARIA, L. The fruit of _Fragaria vesca_ (Linn.), or strawberry plant. Strawberries are, perhaps, the mildest of all the cultivated fruits; they are cooling, and slightly laxative and diuretic; rubbed on the teeth, they dissolve the tartar, and whiten them. They were formerly in repute in gout, stone, and consumption. The root of the plant is aperient.

=Strawberry essence, factitious.= Nitric ether, 1 part; acetate of ethyl, 5 parts; forminate of ethyl, 5 parts; butyrate of ethyl, 5 parts; salicylate of methyl, 1 part; acetate of amyl, 3 parts; butyrate of amyl, 2 parts; glycerin, 2 parts; alcohol, 100 parts.[200]

[Footnote 200: ‘Pharm. Journ.’]

=STRAW PLAIT=, and the articles made of it, are bleached by exposing them to the fumes of burning sulphur in a close chest or box; or, by immersing them in a weak solution of chloride of lime, and afterwards well washing them in water. Water acidulated with oil of vitriol or oxalic acid is also used for the same purpose. Straw plait may be dyed with any of the simple liquid dyes.

=STRINGHALT.= The same as CHOREA, which _see_.

=STRON′TIUM.= Sr. The metallic base of the earth strontia. It was discovered by Sir H. Davy, in 1808. It closely resembles barium, but is less lustrous. With chlorine it combines to form a chloride of strontium, a somewhat deliquescent salt, soluble in 2 parts of cold and in less of boiling water, and freely soluble in alcohol. With oxygen it forms an oxide.

_Test._ Strontium salts are precipitated by sulphuric acid and alkaline carbonates and sulphate. They are distinguished from barium by not giving such a decided precipitate with sulphates, and by not being precipitated by bichromate of potassium. From calcium, by sulphates of calcium solution giving a precipitate, and by concentrated solutions giving a precipitate with chromate of potassium. It is distinguished from magnesium by the insolubility of its sulphate.

=Strontium, Oxide of.= SrO. _Syn._ PROTOXIDE OF STRONTIUM, STRONTIA. _Prep._ Quite pure crystalline nitrate of strontium. _Prop._ Greyish-white powder, uniting with water to form a white, somewhat soluble substance, the hydrate of strontium, Sr(HO)_{2}.

With acids it forms various salts, of which the carbonate is a white insoluble powder, and the nitrate a white crystalline salt, soluble in 5 parts of cold water, and in alcohol; communicating a brilliant red colour to flame.

=STROPH′ULUS.= A papular eruption peculiar to infants. There are several varieties:——In strophulus intertinctus, red gum, or red gown, the pimples rise sensibly above the level of the cuticle, possess a vivid red colour, and are usually distinct from each other; they commonly attack the cheeks, forearm, and back of the hand, and, occasionally, other parts of the body.——In strophulus albidus, or white gum, there are a number of minute whitish specks, which are, sometimes, surrounded by a slight redness. The two preceding varieties commonly occur during the first two or three months of lactation.——In strophulus confertus, rank red gum, or tooth rash, which usually appears about the fourth or fifth month, the pimples usually occur on the cheeks and sides of the nose, sometimes on the forehead and arms, and still less frequently on the loins. They are smaller, set closer together, and less vivid, but more permanent than in the common red gum.——In strophulus volaticus small circular patches or clusters of pimples, each containing from 6 to 12, appear successively on different parts of the body, accompanied with redness; and as one patch declines another springs up near it, by which the efflorescence often spreads gradually over the whole face and body.——In strophulus candidus the pimples are larger than in the preceding, and are pale, smooth and shining; it principally attacks the upper parts of the arms, the shoulders, and the loins. The last two varieties commonly appear between the third and ninth month.

The treatment of the above affections consists chiefly in removing acidity and indigestion and duly regulating the bowels by an occasional dose of magnesia or rhubarb, or both combined. Diarrhœa may be met by the warm bath and the daily use of arrowroot (genuine), to which a teaspoonful or two of pure port wine has been added; and itching and irritation may be alleviated by the use of a lotion consisting of water, to which a little milk, lemon juice, borax, or glycerin, has been added.

=STRYCH′NINE.= C_{21}H_{22}N_{2}O_{2}. _Syn._ STRYCHNINA, STRYCHNIA (B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.), L. _Prep._ 1. Dissolve hydrochlorate or sulphate of strychnine in distilled water, and throw down the alkaloid with ammonia, carefully avoiding excess; redissolve the precipitate in hot rectified spirit, and collect the crystals which form as the liquid cools.

2. (Ph. D.) Nux vomica (in powder), 1 lb., is digested for 24 hours in 1/2 gall. of water acidulated with 2 fl. dr. of sulphuric acid, after which it is boiled for half an hour, and the decoction decanted; the residuum is boiled a second and a third time with a fresh 1/2 gall. of water acidulated with 1 fl. dr. of the acid, and the undissolved matter is finally submitted to strong expression; the decoctions are next filtered and concentrated to the consistence of a syrup, which is boiled with rectified spirit, 3 pints, for about 20 minutes, hydrate of calcium, 1 oz., or q. s., being added in successive portions during the ebullition, until the solution becomes distinctly alkaline; the liquid is then filtered, the spirit distilled off, and the residuum dissolved in diluted sulphuric acid, q. s.; ammonia, in slight excess, is added to the filtered solution, and the precipitate which falls is collected upon a paper filter, and dried; it is next redissolved in a minimum of boiling rectified spirit, and digested with 1/2 oz. of animal charcoal for 20 minutes; the filtered liquid, as it cools, deposits strychnine, in crystals.

3. (Ph. B.) Nux vomica 1 lb., acetate of lead 180 gr., solution of ammonia q. s., rectified spirit q. s., distilled water q. s. Subject the nux vomica for two hours to steam in any convenient vessel; chop or slice it; dry it in a water bath or hot-air chamber, and immediately grind it in a coffee mill. Digest the powder at a gentle heat for 12 hours with two pints of the spirit and 1 pint of the water, strain through linen, express strongly, and repeat the process twice. Distil off the spirit from the mixed fluid, evaporate the watery residue to about 16 oz., and filter when cold. Add now the acetate of lead, previously dissolved in distilled water, so long as it occasions any precipitate; filter; wash the precipitate with 10 oz. of cold water, adding the washings to the filtrate; evaporate the clear fluid to 8 oz., and when it has cooled add the ammonia in slight excess, stirring thoroughly. Let the mixture stand at the ordinary temperature for 12 hours; collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it once with a few ounces of cold distilled water, dry it in a water-bath or hot-air chamber, and boil it with successive portions of rectified spirit, till the fluid scarcely tastes bitter. Distil off most of the spirit, evaporate the residue to the bulk of about 1/2 oz., and set it aside to cool. Cautiously pour off the yellowish mother-liquor (which contains the brucia of the seeds) from the white crust of strychnia which adheres to the vessel. Throw the crust on a paper filter, wash it with a mixture of two parts of rectified spirit and one of water, till the washings cease to become red on the addition of nitric acid; finally, dissolve it, by boiling it with 1 oz. of rectified spirit, and set it aside to crystallise. More crystals may be obtained by evaporating the mother-liquor. [Strychnine is more readily obtained, and in greater purity, from St Ignatius’s Bean.] The usual dose of strychnia and its salts to commence with is from 1/30th to 1/12th of a grain, to be very slowly increased, carefully watching its effects. Magendie says the salts are more active than their base.

_Prop._ A white, inodorous, infusible powder; or small, but exceedingly brilliant, transparent, colourless, octahedral crystals; soluble in about 7000 parts of water at 60°, and in 2500 parts at 212° Fahr.; freebly soluble in hot rectified spirit; insoluble in absolute alcohol, ether, and solutions of the caustic alkalies; imparts a distinctly bitter taste to 600,000 times its weight of water (1 part in 1,000,000 parts of water is still perceptible——Fownes); exhibits an alkaline reaction; and forms salts with the acids, which are easily prepared, are crystallisable, and well defined.

_Tests._——1. Potassium hydrate and the carbonate produce, in solutions of the salts of strychnia, white precipitates, which are insoluble in excess of the precipitant, and which, when viewed through a lens magnifying 100 times, appear as aggregates of small crystalline needles. In weak solutions the precipitate only separates after some time, in the form of crystalline needles, which are, however, in this case, perfectly visible to the naked eye.——2. Ammonia gives a similar precipitate, which is soluble in excess of the precipitant.——3. Bicarbonate of sodium produces, in neutral solutions, a like white precipitate, which is insoluble in excess, but which redissolves on the addition of a single drop of acid; in acid solutions no precipitate occurs for some time in the cold, but immediately on boiling the liquid.——4. Nitric acid dissolves pure strychnia and its salts to colourless fluids, which become yellow when heated. Commercial strychnine, from containing a little brucine, is reddened by this test.——5. A minute quantity of strychnine being mixed with a small drop of concentrated sulphuric acid, placed on a white capsule or slip of glass, forms a colourless solution, but yields, on the addition of a very small crystal of bichromate of potassium, or a very minute portion of chromic acid, a rich violet colour, which gradually changes to red and yellow, and disappears after some time. The 1/1000th of a grain yields very distinct indications.——6. Pure oxide or peroxide of lead produces a similar reaction to the last, provided the sulphuric acid contain about 1% of nitric acid.

_Pois._ The characteristic symptom is the special influence exerted upon the nervous system, which is manifested by a general contraction of all the muscles of the body, with rigidity of the spinal column. A profound calm soon succeeds, which is followed by a new tetanic seizure, longer than the first, during which the respiration is suspended. These symptoms then cease, the breathing becomes easy, and there is stupor, followed by another general contraction. In fatal cases these attacks are renewed, at intervals, with increasing violence, until death ensues. One phenomenon which is only found in poisonings by substances containing strychnine is, that touching any part of the body, or even threatening to do so, instantly produces the tetanic spasm.

_Treat._ The stomach should be immediately cleared by means of an emetic, tickling the fauces, &c. To counteract the asphyxia from tetanus, &c., artificial respiration should be practised with diligence and care. “If the poison has been applied externally, we ought immediately to cauterise the part, and apply a ligature tightly above the wound. If the poison has been swallowed for some time, we should give a purgative clyster, and administer draughts containing sulphuric ether or oil of turpentine, which in most cases produce a salutary effect. Lastly, injections of chlorine and decoction of tannin are of value.”

According to Ch. Gunther, the greatest reliance may be placed on full doses of opium, assisted by venesection, in cases of poisoning by strychnia or nux vomica. His plan is to administer this drug in the form of solution or mixture, in combination with a saline aperient.

_Uses, &c._ It is a most frightful poison, producing tetanus and death in very small doses. Even 1/24 gr. will sometimes occasion tetanic twitchings in persons of delicate temperament. 1/4 gr. blown into the throat of a small dog produced death in 6 minutes. In very minute doses it acts as a useful tonic in various nervous diseases, chronic diarrhœa, leucorrhœa, &c.; in slightly larger ones, it has been advantageously employed in certain forms of paralysis, in tic douloureux, impotence, &c.——_Dose_, 1/24 to 1/16 gr. (dissolved in water by means of a drop of acetic or hydrochloric acid), gradually and cautiously increased until it slightly affects the muscular system. Externally, 1/8 to 1/4 gr. at a time.

The Edinburgh College ordered the nux vomica to be exposed for two hours to steam, to soften it, then to chop or slice it, next to dry it by the heat of a vapour bath or hot air, and, lastly, to grind it in a coffee-mill. In the process of the Ph. L. 1836 magnesia was employed to effect the precipitation. In the last Ph. L. strychnine appears in the Materia Medica. Most of that of commerce is now obtained from St Ignatius’s bean, which, according to Geiseler, yields 1-1/4% of it; whereas 3 lbs. of nux vomica produce little more than 1 dr. Commercial strychnine may be freed from brucine by digesting the powder in dilute alcohol.

The salts of strychnine, which are occasionally asked for in trade, are the acetate (strychniæ acetas), hydrochlorate or muriate (s. murias——Ph. D.), hydriodate (s. hydriodas), nitrate (s. nitras), phosphate (s. phosphas), and sulphate (s. sulphas). All of these may be easily formed by simply neutralising the acid previously diluted with 2 or 3 parts of water, with the alkaloid, assisting the solution with heat; crystals are deposited as the liquid cools, and more may be obtained by evaporating the mother-liquor.

=STRYCHNOS.= See NUX VOMICA and BEAN, ST IGNATIUS’S.

=STUC′CO.= The name of several calcareous cements or mortars. Fine stucco is the third or last coat of three-coat plaster, and consists of a mixture of fine lime and quartzose sand, which, in application, is “twice hand floated and well trowelled.” See CEMENTS.

=STUFFING.= Seasoning, placed in meat, poultry, game, &c., before dressing them, to give them an increased relish. The same materials formed into balls, are added to soups, gravies, &c., under the name of FORCEMEAT.

_Prep._ 1. (For fowls, &c.) Shred a little ham or gammon, some cold veal or fowl, some beef suet, a small quantity of onion, some parsley, a very little lemon peel, salt, nutmeg, or pounded mace, and either white pepper or cayenne, and bread crumbs, pound them in a mortar, and bind it with 1 or 2 eggs.

2. (For hare, or anything in imitation of it.——Mrs Rundell.) The scalded liver, an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet, some parsley, thyme, knotted marjoram, a little shalot, and either onion or chives, all chopped fine, with some crumbs of bread, pepper, and nutmeg, beaten in a mortar with an egg.

3. (For goose.) From sage, onion, suet, and crumb of bread. Geese are now, however, more commonly stuffed with veal stuffing.

4. (For veal——Soyer.) Chop 1/2 lb. of suet, put it into a basin with 3/4 lb. of bread crumbs, a teaspoonful of salt, a 1/4 do. of pepper, a little thyme or lemon peel chopped, and 3 whole eggs; mix well.

_Obs._ 1 lb. of bread crumbs and one more egg may be used; they will make it cut firmer. This, as well as No. 1, is now commonly employed for poultry and meat. Ude, a great authority in these matters, observes that “it would not be amiss to add a piece of butter, and to pound the whole in a mortar.” “Grated ham or tongue may be added to this stuffing.” (Rundell.) This is also used for turkeys, and for ‘forcemeat patties.’

=STUFFING (Birds, &c.).= The skins are commonly dusted over with a mixture of camphor, alum, and sulphur, in about equal quantities; or, they are smeared with Bécœur’s arsenical soap, noticed under SOAP. According to Crace Calvert, carbolic acid, which is worth only about 2s. per gall., is superior to all other substances for preserving the skins of birds and animals, as well as corpses. See TAXIDERMY, PRACTICAL.

=STURDY.= This disease, known also by the name of GAD, which attacks cattle and sheep, but more particularly the latter, is caused by the presence in the brain of the animal, of a hydatid——a creature enclosed in a sac of serous fluid. This hydatid develops from the ova of the tape worm, in the animal’s body, whence it has gained an entrance, with the grass which constitutes the cattle or sheep’s food upon which it has been voided by dogs and other animals.

It is most common in sheep of from 6 to 8 months old, and, as might be expected, with those which feed in damp meadows. The animals attacked by it turn round and round in one position, lose their gregarious habits, seem dazed, and refuse their food; which latter circumstance frequently causes death by inducing starvation.

As regards the treatment of this disease Mr Finlay Dun writes: “A stout stocking wire thrust up the nostrils has long been used with occasional success, to get rid of the hydatid; but the use of the trocar and canula now sold by most surgical instrument makers is much safer and better. The sheep is placed with its feet tied upon a table or bench, and the head carefully examined, when a soft place may often be detected, indicating that the hydatid lies underneath. A portion of the skin is dissected back and the trocar and canula introduced, when the hydatid will often come away as the trocar is withdrawn.” Mr Dun says “that, should the trocar fail to extract it, it must be drawn to the surface by a small syringe made for the purpose. Furthermore, the wound, after the removal of the hydatid, must be treated with a cold water dressing.”

All cattle similarly affected should be treated as above.

=STUR′GEON.= Several species of _Acipenser_ pass under this name. The common sturgeon is the _Acipenser sturio_ (Linn.). The roe is made into ‘caviare,’ the swimming-bladder into ‘isinglass.’

=STY.= _Syn._ STYE, STIAN; HORDEOLUM, L. A small inflamed tumour, or boil, at the edge of the eyelid, somewhat resembling a barleycorn. It is usually recommended to promote its maturation by warm applications, since “the stye, like other furunculous inflammations, forms an exception to the general rule, that the best mode in which inflammatory swellings can end is resolution.”

=STYP′TICS.= _Syn._ STYPTICA, L. Substances which arrest local bleeding. Creasote, tannic acid, alcohol, alum, and most of the astringent salts, belong to this class.

=Styptic, Brocchieri’s.= A nostrum consisting of the water distilled from pine tops.

=Styptic, Eaton’s.= A solution of sulphate disguised by the addition of some unimportant substances. “Helvetius’s styptic was for a long time employed under this title.” (Paris.)

=Styptic Helvetius’s.= _Syn._ STYPTICUM HELVETII, L. Iron filings (fine), and cream of tartar, mixed to a proper consistence with French brandy. See POWDER, HELVETIUS’S.

=STY′RAX.= _Syn._ STORAX, STORAX BALSAM; STYRAX (Ph. L., & E.), L. “The liquid balsam of an uncertain plant.” (Ph. L.) The “balsamic exudation of _Styrax officinale_, Linn.” (Ph. E.), or cane storax tree. Two or three varieties are known in commerce:——Liquid storax (_styrax liquida_), lump of red storax (_s. in massis_), which is generally very impure; storax in tears (_s. in lachrymis_), and storax in reeds (_s. calamita_). The last are now seldom met with in trade.

PREPARED STORAX (_styrax colata_; _s. præparata_, B. P., Ph. L.) is obtained by dissolving storax, 1 lb., in rectified spirit, 4 pints, by a gentle heat, straining the solution through linen, distilling off greater part of the spirit, and evaporating what is left to a proper consistence by the heat of a water bath. It is less fragrant than the raw drug.

Storax is stimulant, expectorant, and nervine. It was formerly much used in menstrual obstructions, phthisis, coughs, asthmas, and other breath diseases. It is now chiefly used as a perfume.——_Dose_, 6 to 20 or 30 gr. (10 to 20 gr. twice a day, B. P.).

=A factitious strained Storax= is made as follows:——1. Balsam of Peru, 1 lb.; balsam of tolu, 4 lbs.; mix.

2. Gum benzoin, 8 lbs.; liquid storax, 6 lbs.; balsam of tolu and Socotrine aloes, of each 3 lbs.; balsam of Peru, 2 lbs.; N.S.W. yellow gum, 7 lbs.; rectified spirit, 7 gall.; digest, with frequent agitation, for a fortnight, strain and distil off the spirit (about 5-1/2 galls.) until the residuum has a proper consistence. _Prod._ 28 lbs.

3. Liquid storax, 1 oz.; Socotrine aloes, 1/4 lb.; balsam of tolu, 2 lbs.; rectified spirit, q. s.

=SUB-.= See NOMENCLATURE and SALTS.

=SU′BERIC ACID.= Obtained by boiling rasped cork for some time in nitric acid.

=SUBLIMA′TION.= The process by which volatile substances are reduced to the state of vapour by heat, and again condensed in the solid form. It differs from ordinary distillation in being confined to dry solid substances, and in the heat employed being, in general, much greater.

=SUB′STANTIVE COLOURS=, in the art of dyeing, are such as impart their tints to cloth and yarns without the intervention of a mordant; in contradistinction to adjective colours, which require to be fixed by certain ‘intermedes,’ or substances which have a joint affinity for the colouring matter and the material to be dyed.

=SUCCIN′IC ACID.= C_{4}H_{4}O_{4}H_{2}. _Syn._ ACIDUM SUCCINICUM. _Prep._ From amber, in coarse powder, mixed with an equal weight of sand, and distilled by a gradually increased heat; or from the impure acid obtained during the distillation of oil of amber; the product in both cases being purified by wrapping it in bibulous paper, and submitting it to strong pressure, to remove the oil, and then resubliming it.

From malic acid, by fermentation, or by digestion with hydriodic acid in sealed tubes.

_Prop., &c._ Colourless; inodorous (when pure); crystallises in oblique rhombic prisms; soluble in 5 parts of cold and in 2-1/2 parts of boiling water; fusible and volatile, without decomposition. Its salts are called ‘succinates,’ most of which are soluble. Succinate of ammonium is used as a test for iron. Succinic acid is distinguished from benzoic acid by its greater solubility, and by giving a brownish or pale red bulky precipitate with ferric chloride in neutral solutions; whereas that with benzoic acid is paler and yellower.

_Uses, &c._ Succinic acid is antispasmodic, stimulant, and diuretic, but is now seldom used.——_Dose_, 5 to 15 gr.

=SUC′CORY.= Chicory, or wild endive. (See CHICORY.)

=SUDORIF′ICS.= See DIAPHORETICS.

=SU′ET.= _Syn._ SEVUM, SEBUM, L. This is prepared from the fat of the loins of the sheep or bullock by melting it by a gentle heat, and straining the liquid fat. In this state it forms the ADEPS OVILLUS (Ph. D.), SEVUM (Ph. L. & E.), SEVUM OVILLUM, or SEVUM PRÆPARATUM, employed in medicine and perfumery, as the basis of ointments, cerates, plasters, pommades, &c.

=Suet, Mel′ilot.= _Syn._ SEVUM MELILOTI, L. _Prep._ From suet, 8 lb.; melilot leaves, 2 lb.; boil until the leaves are crisp, strain, and allow it to cool very slowly, so that it may ‘grain well.’ Used by farriers, and to make melilot plaster.

=SUFFOCA′TION.= The treatment varies with the cause. See ASPHYXIA, CHARCOAL, DROWNING, HANGING, SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN, &c.

=SUG′AR.= C_{12}H_{22}O_{11}. _Syn._ CANE SUGAR; SACCHARUM, L.; SUCRE, Fr. This well-known and most useful substance is found in the juice of many of the canes or grasses, in the sap of several forest trees, and in the roots of various plants. In tropical climates it is extracted from the sugar-cane (_Saccharum officinarum_), in China from the sweet sorgho (_Sorghum saccharatum_), in North America from the sugar-maple (_Acer saccharinum_), and in France, Germany, Russia, and Belgium, from white beet-root (_Beta vulgaris_, var. _alba_).

Until of late years the ordinary sugar consumed in this country was that chiefly sent from the West Indian Islands, South America, the Mauritius, &c., and was the produce of the sugar cane; recently, however, large and increasing quantities of beet-root sugar have found their way into the English markets from the Continental factories.

The _Saccharum officinarum_, of which there are several varieties, the sugar-cane ranges in height from 6 to 15 feet, and in diameter from 1 to 2 inches. In order to obtain the saccharine juice contained in it, the cane, stripped of its leaves, is cut just before the commencement of inflorescence, the period in which it is richest in juice. As this sap or juice is found to abound most in sugar, when taken from the lower part of the stem, the cane is cut off nearly close to the ground.

The stump which remains develops into a fresh plant, and one plant thus treated will last several years, not, however, without a gradual diminution in the size of the successive crops.

In South America and the West Indies a variety known as the Otaheita cane is extensively cultivated, since it is very productive and yields a large amount of juice.

The annual average produce in raw sugar for a hectare (about 2-1/4 English statute acres) of land is in

Martinique 2000 kilos.[201]
Guadaloupe 3400 ”
Mauritius 4000 ”
Brazil 6000 ”

[Footnote 201: A kilo = 2·2046 lbs.]

Sugar-cane growing in the below-mentioned places has, according to the analysis of the three chemists whose names are appended, the following composition:——

(_a._) (_b._) (_c._)
Péligot. Dupuy. Icery.

Sugar 18·0 17·8 20·0
Water 72·1 72·0 69·0
Cellulose 9·9 9·8 10·0
Salts —— 0·4 0·7-1·2

The cane, therefore, may be said to yield 90 per cent. of juice, which latter contains from 18 to 20 parts of pure sugar. However, the actual quantity obtained is rarely if ever more than 1 lb. of sugar to a gallon of juice, or 10 per cent.; and much more frequently only 8 per cent.

A large part of this loss is due to the prolonged exposure of the cane juice during its repeated boilings to heat, whereby a large proportion of its crystallisable sugar is converted into the uncrystallisable variety which passes away in the form of molasses and treacle. Another important cause of loss is the retention of a large amount of juice by the cane.

The following figures will convey an idea of the enormous quantities of cane sugar produced and consumed yearly throughout the globe. It is taken from ‘British Manufacturing Industries,’ one of a series of excellent industrial manuals published by Mr Sandford, of Charing Cross:——

Cuba 600,000 tons.
The other West Indian colonies 250,000 ”
Java and Sumatra 170,000 ”
China 140,000 ”
French colonies in America and Africa 120,000 ”
Brazil 100,000 ”
Mauritius 80,000 ”
British Guiana 80,000 ”
Porto Rico 90,000 ”
Manilla 60,000 ”
Mexico 35,000 ”
Egypt Large and growing.

The late Dr Edward Smith found that 98 per cent. of indoor operatives partook of 7-1/2 oz. of sugar per adult weekly; that 96 per cent. of Scotch labourers use it; and 80 per cent. of Irish. He further states that in Wales sugar is commonly used to an average extent of 6 oz. per adult weekly; but that there is a marked difference in the rate of consumption in the northern and southern portions of the principality. In North Wales, for example, the average amount per head is 11-1/4 oz.; whereas in South Wales it is only 3 oz.

The manufacture of sugar is exclusively conducted on the large scale. The recent canes are crushed between rollers, and the expressed juice is suffered to flow into a suitable vessel, where it is slowly heated to nearly the boiling-point, to coagulate albuminous matter. The crushed canes generally supply the fuel needed for this purpose. The ashes left after the combustion of the canes are carefully collected and used as a manure for future crops of sugar cane.

The cut below represents a press for the extraction of the juice from the canes. By means of the screws (_i i_), the rollers are adjusted to the proper distance apart; the upper roller is half the size of the two lower ones, and all are moved by cogged wheels fitting on to the axes of the rollers. The sugar-canes are transferred from the slate gutter (_d d_) to the rollers (_a c_), which press them a little; and from thence they are carried over the arched plate (_n_) to the rollers (_c b_). The pressed sugar-canes fall over the gutter (_f_), the expressed juice collecting in _g g_, and running off through _h_. A small quantity of milk of lime is then added to the juice to remove mechanical impurities, and the skimmed and clarified juice, after being sufficiently concentrated by rapid evaporation in open pans, is transferred to coolers, and thence into upright casks perforated at the bottom, and so placed that the syrup, or uncrystallisable portion, may drain off into a tank or cistern from the newly formed sugar. During the period of crystallisation it is frequently agitated, in order to hasten the change, and to prevent the formation of large crystals. The solid portion of the product forms moist, raw, or muscovado sugar; the uncrystallisable syrup, molasses or treacle.[202]

[Footnote 202: The term ‘molasses’ is usually restricted to the drainings from raw sugar, and ‘treacle’ to the thicker syrup which has drained from refined sugar in the moulds.]

Raw sugar is refined by redissolving it in water, adding to the solution albumen, under the form of serum of blood or white of egg, and, sometimes, a little lime-water, and heating the whole to the boiling-point; the impurities are then removed by careful skimming, and the syrup is decoloured by filtration through recently burnt animal charcoal; the clear decolorised syrup is next evaporated to the crystallising-point in vacuo, and at once transferred into conical earthern moulds, where it solidifies, after some time, to a confusedly crystallised mass; this, when drained, washed with a little clean syrup, and dried in a stove, constitutes ordinary loaf, lump, or refined sugar. Sometimes in washing the crystallised mass for the purpose of removing the coloured syrup which is mingled with it, the process known as ‘claying’ is followed.

In this case, instead of white syrup being used, a layer of thin mud or a paste of thin pipe-clay is poured into the mould on to the base of the inverted sugar cone, through which the water escaping from the mud or pipe-clay permeates, and carries with it the coloured syrup. Neither the mud nor the pipe-clay mix with the sugar, but remaining on the top soon become hard, when they are removed. As the syrup running from the moulds still contains a large quantity of crystalline cane sugar, this is recovered as follows:

The syrup, after being sufficiently concentrated by boiling in the vacuum pan, is removed and allowed to cool, when it assumes the appearance of a crystalline magma known as ‘crushed sugar.’

Crushed sugar is a mixture of a large quantity of sugar crystals with uncrystallisable syrup. To get rid of this latter from the crystals, the mass is placed in quantities of 3 or 4 cwts. at a time in a ‘centrifugal machine.’ This, of which an engraving is given below, consists, as will be seen, of a drum fixed on a vertical axis. The walls of the drum are made of perforated metal, or are formed of meshed wire work, and the drum itself enclosed in an outer metal cylinder, which is fixed, and, of course, unperforated. When the drum is made to revolve on its axis at the rate of 1000 or 1200 revolutions in a minute, the syrup flying off by centrifugal action, and escaping through the perforation at the sides of the drum, is received into the outer cylinder, whence it escapes by a trough into a proper receptacle, leaving behind the crystals in the interior of the drum.

_a_ is an open drum of fine meshed wirework, caused to revolve in the cast-iron vessel (_b b_), by means of the bevel wheels (_c d_), gearing with a motive power. The motion of the drum can be stopped by means of the brake (_e_), and regulated by the weights placed at _o_.

When the crystallisation of sugar is allowed to take place quietly and slowly, the product is sugar candy. The evaporation at a low temperature in vacuum pans has the effect of diminishing the yield of treacle.

_Prop._ Sugar requires for its solution only 1/3rd of its weight of cold and still less of boiling water; it is slowly dissolved by cold rectified spirit; it dissolves in 4 parts of boiling rectified spirit and in 80 parts of boiling absolute alcohol; it melts by heat, and cools to a glassy amorphous mass (barley sugar); at about 400° Fahr. it suffers rapid decomposition, and fuses to a brown, uncrystallisable mass (caramel); long boiling with water increases its colour, and lessens its tendency to crystallise; its aqueous solution dissolves alkalies, earths, and many metallic oxides, with facility. The presence of cane sugar in solutions containing certain metallic salts prevents the precipitation of their oxides by alkalies. The oxides of copper and iron are amongst those thus kept in solution. Sugar also possesses the power of effecting the partial or complete reduction of many metallic oxides, if boiled with their salts; the first results is exemplified in the case of the chromates; for if a chromate be added to a solution of sugar, and to the mixture a few drops of free acid, the chromic acid suffers reduction to chromic oxide, which, dissolving in the excess of acid, imparts a green colour to the liquid. Mercuric salts become reduced to mercurous, whilst the salts of gold throw down a precipitate of the metal in fine powder. The action of strong oil of vitriol on cane sugar is very energetic. The sugar is instantly reduced to a black charred mass, whilst carbonic and formic acids are given off. The same effects are produced by exposing it to dry chlorine at a temperature of 212° F. By nitric acid of sp. gr. 1·25, cane sugar is converted into saccharic acid; if a stronger acid be employed, oxalic acid is produced. When a mixture of concentrated nitric and sulphuric acids is poured on to cane sugar, an explosive compound, resembling gun cotton, is produced. This body is known as ‘nitro-sugar.’ Weak syrups take up about half as much hydrate of calcium as they contain sugar; when slowly crystallised, it assumes the form of oblique 4-sided prisms, terminated by 2-sided summits. Sp. gr. 1·60 (1·577——Ure).

_Pur._ Moist or muscovado sugar and crushed lump sugar are occasionally adulterated with chalk, plaster, sand, potato-flour, and other fecula; but frequently, and in certain neighbourhoods constantly, with starch sugar or potato-sugar.[203] These frauds may be detected as follows:

[Footnote 203: See further on.]

_Tests._——1. Pure cane sugar dissolves freely and entirely in both water and proof spirit, forming transparent colourless solutions, which are unaffected by either sulphuretted hydrogen or dilute sulphuric acid.——2. Its solution bends the luminous rays in circumpolarisation to the right, whereas grape and fecula sugars bend it to the left.[204]——3. (Chevallier.) Boiled for a short time in water containing 2 or 3% of caustic potassa, the liquid remains colourless; but it turns brown, which is more or less intense, according to the quantity, if starch sugar is present. Even 2 or 3% of starch sugar may be thus detected.——4. (E. Krantz.) A filtered solution of 33 gr. of cane or beet sugar in 1 fl. oz. of water, mixed with 3 gr. of pure hydrate of potassium, and then agitated with 1-1/2 gr. of sulphate of copper in an air-tight bottle, remains clear, even after the lapse of several days; but if starch sugar be present, a red precipitate is formed after some time; and if it is present in considerable quantity, the copper will be wholly converted into oxide within 24 hours, the solution turning first blue or green, and then entirely losing its colour.——5. (Trommer’s test.) A solution of cane sugar is mixed with a solution of sulphate of copper, and hydrate of potassium added in excess; a blue liquid is obtained, which, on being heated, is at first but little altered; a small quantity of red powder falls after a time, but the liquid long retains its blue tint. When grape sugar or fecula sugar is thus treated, the first application of heat throws down a copious greenish precipitate, which rapidly changes to scarlet, and eventually to dark red, leaving a nearly colourless solution. This is an excellent test for distinguishing the two varieties of sugar, or discovering an admixture of grape sugar with cane sugar. The 1/1000th part of grape sugar may be thus detected. The proportion of oxide of copper produced affords a good criterion, not only of the purity of the sugar, but also of the extent of the adulteration.——6. (Ure.) Dissolve a little sulphate of copper (say 20 gr.) in a measured quantity of water, and add to it, in the cold, a solution of hydrate of potassium, until, by testing with turmeric paper, the liquid appears faintly alkaline, shown by the paper becoming slightly brown. If a small quantity of this test-liquor (previously well shaken) be added to an aqueous solution of the sugar, and the whole boiled, the solution becomes at first green, and then olive-green, if dextrin is present; but if it contain grape sugar, the salt of copper is immediately reduced into the state of orange and oxide; whilst a solution of pure sugar undergoes no change, or is scarcely altered.——7. M. Riffard,[205] taking advantage of the fact that sugar, like tartaric, malic, citric acid, and albumen, prevents the precipitation of iron by ammonia, employs iron as a means for estimating sugar. A solution containing sugar and iron in a certain proportion, when saturated with ammonia, will form a compound of a fine red colour, which remains clear if no alkaline earthy metals are present. M. Riffard has applied to sugar the method proposed by M. Juette for the estimation of tartaric acid. He observed that a neutral or acid solution of crystallised perchloride of iron, when heated for a considerable time to 100° C, requires 2·710 grams of sugar, if 100 milligrams of iron are to remain in solution in the presence of ammonia. If, on the other hand, the solution is prepared simply by dissolving crystallised perchloride of iron in pure water, without the addition of an acid, 100 milligrams of iron only require 2·587 grammes of sugar to remain dissolved. In this case the liquid is perfectly clear, and remains so; but if a smaller quantity of sugar be added, it is turbid, and deposits peroxide of iron. To estimate the sugar by this process, 25·870 grammes of the substance to be tested are dissolved, the solution mixed with a few drops of oxalate of ammonia to precipitate the lime, filtered and made up with water to 250 c.c., 25 c.c. of this mixture require the addition of as many milligrams of iron as there are per cents. of pure sugar in the sample under examination, and by two tests the following results will be arrived at:——With _n_ milligrams of iron the solution is clear. With _n_ + 1 milligrams of iron the solution is precipitated. _n_ representing the number of per cents. of sugar contained in the sample.——8. M. Perrot’s method for the determination of sugars by means of normal solutions is as follows:——He prepares a standard solution of copper by dissolving 39·275 grams of sulphate of copper, very pure, and dried between several folds of filtering paper, and makes it up with distilled water to 1000 c.c. Each c.c. of this solution contains 0·01 grams of copper. On the other hand, he dissolves about 25· grams of pure cyanide of potassium in 1 litre of distilled water. Of this solution 10 c.c. are taken and put in a flask, to which about 20 c.c. of ammonia are added, and the liquid is kept at a temperature of 60° or 70°. He pours in the copper solution drop by drop by means of a burette graduated into tenths of a c.c., until there appears the blue tint characteristic of salts of copper in an ammoniacal solution. The number of degrees of the burette are then read off, and indicate the quantity of copper which has been required to produce the reaction. The solution of the sugar in question (previously inverted if it is required to determine crystalline sugar) is then placed in contact with an excess of Fehling’s liquor, and reduced in the water-bath. The whole is filtered in order to collect the precipitate of suboxide, which is first well washed with hot water, and dissolved in nitric acid, diluted with an equal volume of water, and a few fragments of chlorate of potassa are added. This solution is effected on the filter, which is then carefully washed in acidulated water. The filtrate to which the washings are added is then mixed with water enough to make up 100 or 150 c.c., and is then poured by means of the burette into 10 c.c. of cyanide, mixed with 20 c.c. of ammonia as above, stopping when the blue colour appears, and reading off the quantity of copper employed. From the former experiment it is known how much copper 10 c.c. of the cyanide solution require. Hence it is easy to calculate the total amount of copper which has been present as suboxide. The amount of sugar is then found from the data that 9298 parts of copper equal 5000 of crystalline sugar, or 5263 of glucose.[206]——9. The specific gravities and crystalline forms offer other means of distinguishing the varieties of sugar.

[Footnote 204: Of late years, owing to the little difference in price between the two, this form of adulteration has been abandoned.——ED.]

[Footnote 205: ‘Journ. de Pharm. et de Chimie,’ 1874, 49 (‘Pharm. Year Book,’ 1874).]

[Footnote 206: ‘Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaire des Sciences’ (‘Chem. News’), January 5th, 1877.]

_Concluding Remarks._ Refined sugar (SACCHARUM——Ph. L., S. PURUM——Ph. E., S. PURIFICATUM——Ph. D.), raw sugar (S. COMMUNE——Ph. E.), and molasses or treacle (SACCHARI FÆX——Ph. L. & E.), were officinal.

The relative sweetening power of cane sugar is estimated at 100; that of pure grape sugar, at 60; that of fecula or starch sugar, at 30 to 40.

According to Messrs Oxland’s method (patented 1849) of defecating and bleaching the juice of beet-root, cane, &c., acetate of aluminium, formed by dissolving 4 lbs. of that earth in acetic acid, is boiled with each ton of sugar, and as soon as the acetic acid is nearly all driven off, a solution of tannin, formed from 1 lb. of bruised valonia and 2 galls. of hot water, is added to the boiling syrup; the excess of aluminium is afterwards separated by lime, and the usual method of further procedure adopted. By their second patent (1851), superphosphate of aluminium or of calcium is substituted for acetate of aluminium, in the proportion of about 6 lbs. of aluminium, dissolved in phosphoric acid, for each ton of sugar.

The presence of certain saline bodies in a solution of cane sugar, exercises a very prejudicial effect upon it, since these, by combining with the sugar, give rise to compounds which contribute to the more or less reduction of the sugar to the uncrystallisable condition, and to a consequent increase of the molasses.

Of one of the chief constituents of the sugar-cane that possesses this objectionable property is potash in combination with acids, both organic and inorganic. Last year a patent for the removal of these potash salts was taken out by the Messrs Newlands. The patentees proceed upon the facts that the solubility of alum in water is very trifling, and that it contains only 1/10th part of its weight of potash. They add to a concentrated syrup a strong solution of sulphate of alumina (having by a previous examination of the syrup determined the quantity required). Sulphate of potash is thereby formed, and this, uniting with the sulphate of alumina, the resulting alum after a time deposits in a crystalline form at the bottom of the vessel containing the sugar solution. This being run off into another receptacle, the free acid, of which it now contains a large quantity, is neutralised with lime or chalk, boiled, filtered, and passed through charcoal.

The addition of the lime has also thrown down the alumina liberated by the reaction, which has carried with it and removed certain injurious nitrogenous principles previously present in the saccharine liquid.